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October 2017 has arrived and along with it another century’s culminating celebration of the birth of the Protestant Reformation. Books, articles, conferences, and tours have focused on educating and further reforming our generation of believers who are 500 years closer to Jesus’ return.

My favorite British podcast, ‘Unbelievable’ hosted by Justin Brierley recently featured a polite conversation between a nominal Protestant-turned-believing Catholic and a religiously-raised Catholic who embraced historical and Biblical Protestantism. Speaking with restraint, both sincerely believe their church’s doctrine and did indeed explain their beliefs with clarity.

My curiosity mounted as I waited to learn what compelled the current Catholic to hold to what appears to me as false teaching. At first, he ticked off what my reformed denomination holds is true:

We are saved by grace alone, through Christ alone

Jesus alone saves; our works don’t earn us salvation

Salvation is a gift of God, even the faith to believe God is a gift

So far…..so good. But then came the ‘hic’, the point of diversion:

We must ‘cooperate’ with God’s grace.

Voilà! Here is one place where historic, Biblical Protestantism parts company with Rome and her teachings. What in the heck does ‘cooperate’ mean and how is that a gift or good news?

I imagine a spectrum, a continuing line of required effort. On one end the energy to be expended is minimal: “Don’t hinder, interfere with or try to block God’s work”

Moving along the COOPERATION line I picture the next bit of advice: “Actively work with God!”

Passing that polite but not yet desperate midpoint, the pleas for greater exertion and more good works grow insistent: “If you don’t join in, God won’t be able to succeed in placing you in His eternal presence!”

Really? Does the Catholic Church actually think we dependent, derivative, created beings have the power to thwart Almighty God’s purpose?

Cooperating with God’s grace sounds nice, non-threatening and civilized. But as a concept that Catholic leaders use to teach and encourage their followers, it misleads millions about God.

Words matter. Especially about eternal issues. Either God saves us and our forever destination depends solely on Him as the Bible teaches OR we have a key role to play in the outcome. This is how the issue must be framed. By the way, this hypothetical proposition is called a Disjunctive Proposition. In the way I believe this argument must be framed, either the first disjunct is true or the 2nd one. They both cannot be true.

Whatever degree of human effort the Catholic Church teaches is necessary for salvation, this idea that one must ‘cooperate with God’s grace’ continues to mislead generations toward eternal separation from God. Words can be cruel albeit comforting in their confusion. And the Bible teaches that God will judge teachers harshly who have twisted His word.

Since words matter and can have eternal consequences, let us as logic lovers be careful in how we use God’s gift of language.